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February, 2019

February, 2019 FARC Newsletter Page 1

February Program: "FCC Radio Intelligence Divison during WWII and Patroling the Ether”, by Brian Harrison, KN4R from Charlotte.

January Home-Brew Show-&-Tell Night:

Wow! So many interesting projects. We’ll start with Bruce Thompson, AD4ET and his portable ham station built from PVC tubing. This was to solve the problem of how to compactly have ham gear available in an RV. This created a lot of interest. While your needs will be a bit different more photos and Bruce’s plans are on page 6.

Home-Brew continued on Page 6 . . . .

THOMAS M WILLIAMS KN4PLM G

Amateur Radio License Testing!

Amateur radio testing is available for new applicants as well as upgrades. Exams will be given the 2nd Monday of every month, except December, prior to the FARC regular meeting. The normal starting time is 6:20PM The place is the Red Cross building on . 690 Coliseum Drive in Winston-Salem. Pre-registration is required via e-mail, listing the elements you wish to test for, your phone number and email address. You may pre-register or get additional information via Email to testing(@)w4nc.com Attention Dale Mierisch WB9SZL

Pre-registration is required via email, listing the elements you wish to test for, your phone number and email address.

Please note that candidates wishing to upgrade their license MUST bring:

A) Their original license for viewingB) Two copies of their Signed license (FCC 660 – May 2007 Form), one of which must be attached to their FCC Form 605.C) The Original CSCE and One Copy of their CSCE if they have a CSCE.D) $12.00

Our biggest challenge continues to be encouraging upgrade candidates to bring a copy of their license to exam sessions. Effective July 1, 2016, upgrade candidates forgetting copies of their license, will be dismissed and invited to bring their license copy to next month’s exam session. A copy of your Signed license (FCC 660 – May 2007 Form), must accompany the application to the FCC. Any missing copies unfortunately delays the entire license process for all exam candidates. Bring your original Signed license (FCC 660 – May 2007 Form), if you

FCC Exams Reportand FARC Membership

by, Dale Mierisch, WB9SZL

VEC Session Manager

C on gr a t u l a t i o ns to Thomas KN4PLM on his upgrade to General in January:

FARC Newsletter Page 2Continued on the next pagePatent US147119A: S. V. Francis, 1874.

Forsyth Amateur Radio Club, Inc is a non-profit (IRS 501(c)3) North Carolina corporation for the promotion of Amateur Radio, and for the education and training of hams and the general public primarily in Forsyth County, North Carolina.

FARC was originally incorporated as the Winston-Salem Radio Club on December 31, 1930 and has been in operation ever since. We currently maintain a state-of-the-art ham station in the basement of the Red Cross, 690 Coliseum Dr., Winston-Salem, NC and also maintain two 2-meter repeaters, 146.64 (100 Hz tone) and 145.47 (100 Hz tone) and a 444.275 repeater (100 Hz tone).

FARC has a general membership meeting with a program on the 2nd Monday of every month at the Red Cross building, 690 Coliseum Drive in Winston-Salem. The club conducts its main business meeting (the Board Meeting) on the 3rd Monday generally at [a restaurant soon to be determined]. This is where most of the club’s business is conducted and all attending members have a vote. All club members are strongly encouraged to attend the business meeting. For more information about FARC mail us at FARC, Inc., PO Box 11361, Winston-Salem, NC, 27116; call 336-245-5740; or visit out web site at www.w4nc.com

Club email is to info <at> w4nc <dot> com *

Officers for 2019 are:

President: Sam Pindexter, N4TGVice-President: Ian MacArthur, W4STHSecretary: Stacey MacArthur, W1LLO

Treasurer: Kent Englebert, K4HKENewsletter Editor: Don Edwards, WS4NC

Tech and VEC Chairman: Dale Mierisch, WB9SZLHamfest Chairman: Henry Heidtmann, W2DZO

Field Day Chairman: Daryl Knight, N5WKHouse Chairman: Steve Patterson, WA3RTC

Webmaster: Terry Brown, AK4D

All content is Copyright 2005-2018, All Rights Reserved, by Don Edwards and Forsyth Amateur Radio Club, Inc, unless otherwise noted. Permission is given to reproduce for non-commercial purposes provided proper credit is given. If you would like to help support the newsletter with an ad, please contact Don Edwards (email: ws4nc <at> dwepe <dot> com).

We trade newsletters with other clubs, and many clubs are on our mailing list. If your club has a newsletter and would like to trade please send us a copy.

Submissions and inquiries please send to dedwards <at> dwepe <dot> com *

*The “funny” email addresses are to confuse the Spam bots. Spam shall be cause of the fall of Western Civilization. Either that or the spork.

February, 2019

have one, two forms of ID, $12.00 and successful completion forms (CSCE’s - if any).

For new hams, please complete the information on the FARC application (usually the last page of the Newsletter), if you have not already done so, for a free Membership to the Forsyth Amateur Radio Club (FARC). Mark the form "New Ham - Exam date". Once the form is completed, bring to the next club meeting, or please scan and email to me.

Exams are offered before the FARC meeting (2nd Monday at the Red Cross) and start at 6:30 PM in room 109 at the Red Cross building. You are En cou raged t o a r r i v e ea r l y a t 6 :2 0 PM Preregistration is strongly suggested at info <at> w4nc <dot> com. We try to accommodate walk-ins if we can.

How to print a copy of your FCC License

by Jim, KV4SJ

To access an official copy of your license:

1. Go to:https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsEntry/licManager/login.jsp

2. Log in with your FRN and password. (Also has links to find or get your FRN.)

3. Click on “Download Electronic Authorizations” in the links on the left hand side.

4. Select your call sign in the box labeled “My Authorizations” and click on the Add button to copy it into the “Authorizations to Download” box.

5. Click on the Download button to download an official copy of your license in PDF format.

This is the official version you need for your wallet card and to display in your station. The reference copy does not satisfy the legal requirements.

FARC Newsletter Page 3

January Mystery Ham

I knew I should have picked a different picture. Yes, i t ’s Joe Walsh, WB6ACU. Most know him from The Eagles - think Hotel California. Or Winslow, AZ. Way too many people got this one. I know I will miss someone - especially if y o u t o l d m e a t h e Hamfest. Let’s see the l is t inc ludes: Dave

February, 2019

Ramsey, K4OIL; Ronald Gregorie; W4UDB; Ray Purdom, K4ZGV; Walt Wilson, W4WLW; Brad Trogdon, W4INT; Stan Overby, WA4RDZ; Kris Brzescinski, KB4MB; Bob Gates, KJ4IC; Neal Pruitt, WD4LSS; Jerry Minor, K4GW. I know I missed a few. Sorry. Apparently there are a lot of Eagles fans here. And a lot at the hamfest.

Some of us ran into Joe at Dayton Hamfest one year. Henry (always the shy one) yelled out “Hey, Joe how about a picture?”. Joe siad “You guys bought all the good stuff!”. The picture is below. From left to right, Bill Patterson, KD4RGB; Joe Walsh, WB6ACU; Henry Heidtmann, W2DZO; and Don Edwards, WS4NC.

February’s Mystery Ham - Where’s Waldo?

This month I thought I would do something different. We had two members who couldn’t attend the Hamfest - even though they really wanted to. So I “attended” them for them. Terry Brown is recovering from medical issues and Harold Richardson, N4HER had to look after his wife Colleen, who was rocoveringfrom complications from knee surgery. If you look closely at the hamfest photos you will find a picture of Terry and Harold hidden (not too hard) in side some of the photos. Just email me page and column this month.

FCC Exams in Thomasville

The next session for FCC Exams in Thomasville is March 16, 2019. For details go to www.w4vec.org.

Calendar of Upcoming Ham EventsHamfests, Special Events, Contests, Club meetings, etc.

By Don WS4NC[Ed. Note: Newly updated. There really isn’t one source to find this information and putting this together requires digging across various club Newsletters, NC ARRL Section newsletter (thanks Karl!), QST, CQ and other sources. If you know of a correction or something that should be here please send it to ws4nc <at> dwepe <dot> com. With your help I can make this a more useful list including events in NC, GA, VA, SC and TN.] *non FARC event - confirm with event sponsor.

Hamfests, Contests and other events:

March 8 North Carolina Section Convention (Charlotte Hamfest), Concord, NC, Mecklenburg Amateur Radio Society, http://charlottehamfest.org

March 9 MTARS - TULLAHOMA HAMFEST, Tullahoma, TN, Middle Tennessee Amateur Radio Society, http://www.qsl.net/mtars/

March 23, 2019 Charleston, WV Hamfest Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center, WV

March 23 Ides of March Hamfest, National Guard Armory, Union City, TN, Reelfoot Amateur Radio Club, http://reelfootarc.com March 24 WINTERFEST, Annandale, VA, Vienna Wireless Society, http://viennawireless.net/wp/events/winterfest

March 30 Tennessee Section Convention (Sevier County Hamfest), Sevier County Fairgrounds, Sevierville, TN, Sevier County Amateur Radio Society, http://seviercountyars.org/

April 6 - ARES/AUXCOM event at Hanging Rock State Park April 6 Down East Hamfest, Kinston, NC, Down East Hamfest Association, Lenoir Community College Gymnasium

April 13 Tennessee State Convention, Memphis FreeFest, Bartlett Station Municipal Center Auditorium, Bartlett, TN, Mid-South Amateur Radio Association, http://maraonline.org April 20 North Carolina State Convention (Raleigh Hamfest), Raleigh, NC, Raleigh Amateur Radio Society, Jim Graham Building - NC State Fairgrounds http://rarsfest.org, Jim Graham Building - NC State Fairgrounds

April 26 VHF Super Conference, Holiday Inn

Washington-Dul les In t l A irpor t , Ster l ing, VA, Southeastern VHF Society, North East Weak Signal G r o u p , M t . A i r y V H F R a d i o C l u b , https://vhfsuperconference.com/

April 27 Catawba Valley Hamfest, Morganton, NC, Burke County Fairgrounds, McDowell Amateur Radio Assn., http://cvhamfest.com

May 17-19, Dayton Hamvention, Zenia, Ohio, https://hamvention.org

June 15 Knoxville Hamfest, Kerbela Temple, Knoxville, TN, Radio Amateur Club of Knoxville, http://www.w4bbb.org/ July 6 34th Annual Firecracker Hamfest, Salisbury Civic Center, Salisbury, NC, Rowan Amateur Radio Society, http://www.rowanars.com/events

July 20 Mid-Summer SWAPFEST, Ritter Park, Cary, NC, Cary Amateur Radio Club, http://www.qsl.net/n4nc July 27 WCARS Hamfest 2019, Haywood County Fairgrounds, Waynesville, NC, Western Carolina A m a t e u r R a d i o S o c i e t y , http://www.wcars.org/wcarshamfest.htm

August 4 69th Annual Berryville Hamfest, Berryville, VA, The Shenandoah Valley Amateur Radio Club, Clarke C o u n t y R u r i t a n F a i r g r o u n d s , http://www.svarc.us/hamfest

August 10 21st Annual Cape Fear Amateur Radio Society Swapfest, Cumberland County Shrine, Fayetteville, NC, Cape Fear Amateur Radio Society, http://cfarsnc.org August 30 Shelby Hamfest, Shelby, NC, Shelby Amateur Radio Club, http://shelbyhamfest.org

August 24 Cedars of Lebanon Hamfest, Cedars of Lebanon State Park, Lebanon, TN, Short Mountain Repeater Club, http://www.smrclub.com October 5 (Unconfirmed) Rockhill, SC Hamfest, York County Amateur Radio Society, [email protected], http://www.ycars.org

October 12 Winston-Salem Hamfest, Robinhood Road B a p t i s t C h u r c h , W i n s t o n - S a l e m , N C http://www.w4nc.com

October 18 Delta Division Convention (Hamfest Chattanooga 2019), Camp Jordan Arena, East Ridge, T N , C h a t t a n o o g a A m a t e u r R a d i o C l u b , http://w4am.net/hamfest-chattanooga-2018/

FARC Newsletter Page 4February, 2019

Continued on the next page

October 26 South Carolina Section Convention "Beachfest" 2019, Conway, SC, Grand Strand Amateur Radio Club, http://www.w4gs.org

NEARBY HAM CLUBS AND MEETINGS:Please see for more up-www.w4nc.comto-date information

**Quarterly QCWA Meeting usually April, June, September and December. See the website for details. Locations varies. ALL members and guests are welcome! Wearing your Ham badge is encouraged. Always a good program. QCWA Chapter 126 Weekly Net: 3.826 MHZ, 8:45AM each Saturday morning. The next Piedmont Chapter 126 meeting will be held on Saturday, September 9, 2017 at the Bestfood Cafeteria in Siler City, NC. ALL members and guests are welcome! Wearing your ham badge is encouraged. Directions: The Best Food Cafeteria is at 220 East 11th Street, Siler City, NC, telephone number is 919-742-2475 and located on Highway 64 about 1.9 miles West of the intersection with Highway 421, and right across the street from Marsh Auto Parts. When: Plan to arrive at 11:30 AM to socialize, dinner at 12 noon, business and program at about 12:45 PM. Board members are requested to arrive at 11 AM.

1st Tuesdays Durham FM Association : Meets for Dinner (optional) at 6:00pm and the business meeting and program at 7:00pm. We are meeting at Bullock's BBQ, on 3330 Quebec Drive in Durham. For more info on each meeting, check http://www.dfma.org/

1st Tuesdays Davie County Amateur Radio Club :This may not be accurate. Last info I had was from Kris, KB4MB that “they are ‘slightly’ active, but basically there is a small group of 2m guys, and a few HF guys and that is it. Maybe 6-10 members at this point?” Doyle, KM4BGJ advises that “The last meeting was in August at the Harmon Masonic Lodge located at 3229 Ray T Moore Rd. Yadkinville, NC 27055 at 7:00 pm. We will be looking forward to this meeting. The club gained several new members on Field Day and also had a new Ham get their ticket on Field Days.” Contact Doyle at doyle5362 <at> yahoo <dot> com

2nd Mondays: The Orange County Radio Amateurs meet at 1900 at the Orange Count EOC in Hillsborough.

2nd Tuesdays: Raleigh Amateur Radio Society General Meeting on second Tuesday of each month, Location: Ridge Road Baptist Church, 2011 Ridge Road, Raleigh, NC, 27607. Time: People begin arriving at 7 PM, The meeting officially begins at 7:30 PM. RARS also meets for a monthly dinner on the first Tuesday of each month for the RARS dinner. Dinner begins at 6:30 PM.

Next Dinner at Golden Coral, 6129 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh 27612.

2nd Mondays Forsyth Amateur Radio Club, Inc . at the Red Cross Building on Coliseum Drive. FCC Exams are offers starting at 6:20 PM (please preregister at info <at> w4nc <dot> com.) Meetings start at 7:30 PM with a program on various ham related topics.

2nd Mondays Rowan Amateur Radio Society at the Rowan County Rescue Squad Building at 1140 Julian Road. Monthly meetings usually begin at 7:00 PM local time, except for the July and December meetings which are “dinner” meetings and thus start a little earlier, usually beginning about 6:00-6:30 PM. Programs may include equipment demonstrations, movies, guest speakers, or just open discussions on radio. We look forward to seeing you at the next meeting. http://www.rowanars.org/

3nd Mondays Forsyth Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Business Meeting . Open to all FARC members and interested visitors. We meet at Hams Restaurant (how appropriate!) located in Thruway Lower Mall starting at 7PM.

3rd Mondays(?): Guilford Amateur Society usually held at Tex & Shirley's Restaurant in the Friendly Shopping Center on Pembroke Rd. 6:00 PM to eat, 7:00 PM to meet. Verify the dates at http://www.w4gg.org/

4th Mondays(?): Guil ford Amateur Radio Association Eat at 6:30pm and the meeting is at 7:15pm. Captain Bill's Seafood & Steakhouse, 6108 West Market St., Greensboro, NC 27409. Verify the dates at http://www.w4gso.org/

1st Saturdays(?): Tri-County Amateur Radio Club ,Thomasville: Breakfast at 8:30 am on the first Saturday of each month at the Denny's in Thomasville, 103 Sedgehill D r i v e ( m a p i t ) . F o r m o r e d e t a i l s s e e : http://nc4ar.org/us/page.php?2

Last Mondays: Stokes County Amateur Radio Society SCARS http://k4stk.com/index.html

Knightlites QRP Club http://www.knightlites.org/ Usually meets in Cary. Spread the word. See website for details.

Briarpatch Amateur Radio Club - Next club meeting is ? ; the meeting will be held at TCRH. Meetings and FCC Test Sessions Test sessions are held at the Twin County Regional Hospital in Galax, VA unless otherwise announced. http://galaxbarc.tripod.com



Home-Brew continued from Page 1

Next up we have Jerry Minor, W4GW. Jerry had a number of projects. One, totally amusing, was his universal garage door opener. I don’t think I want to spread exactly what this was used for too widely. Jerry also has a rig/computer interface that was built from a kit and some Amazon Fire-Stick that had been modifed for Wi-Fi/USB usage. Notice there is one unmodified and one modified - a heatsink had to be added to dissipate the heat.

Pictures are at the right. Home-Brew continued on Page 8


40 Meter Transmitter/ Receiveer

James Kretzschmar, AE7AX has been busy building some more goodies. James joined FARC when he lived in Winston-Salem about 10 years ago and we still claim him. He has since moved to Wyoming (where the antelope play - see the picture!). He has built some of the most beautiful tube audio ampliers and loads of interesting little ham projects. I have always admired how he would mill printed circuit boards using a dental drill - but then he is a retired dental surgeon.

This time he has taken a trip into the past and built a transmitter for his 40 M CW station. The HV is from an old TV transformer that was bought at a hamfest. 6AG7 osicllator and 807 final with about 480 volts on the plate. RF out is about 25 watts. Antenna is an inverted V at 35 feet. The receiver is direct conversion based on March, 1999 QST.

First QSO was with N4WOW in Warner Robbins, GA - about 1,535 miles from Cheyenne, WY. On Straight Key Night he made 8 CW contacts - one in British Columbia, Canada.

When not building stuff James also is a teaching assistant at University of Wyoming University or he is using his 8-inch reflector telescope. The lunar photo is from the January lunar eclispe. There is another photo of the station on bottom of page 21.

February, 2019

Home-Brew continued from page 6

Jim Mansfield, WA4NOT had a Cricket QRP 80 meter CW transceiver constructed from a kit. The inductors were made into the board, which eliminated one of the tedious chores of windings coils or torroids. Also the key was built onto the board, a nice touch.

Gaff Pearce, W4GYP, showed off his System Fusion hot spot Raspberry Pie Kit. This was a hit with the digital crowd and then was a lot of dicussion after the meeting. Pictures are at the right.


Home-Brew continued on page 8

June (no more!) Winston-Salem Hamfest

OK, we’ve talked about it for years, now we are going to do it. The Winston-Salem summer hamfest has been moved to October. There are a number of reasons for this. In the past we have been on the first weekend after school is out. Many people grab the kids and run away on vacation that weekend. Or the hamfest conflicts with a lot of graduations. This year we are finally moving to October 12. The date is almost final. We are awaiting approval from ARRL for the date.


Derek Brown, WF4I, brought a selection of kits that he had built. (Derek we don’t see you often enough!) One is the Appalachian Trail transceiver built into a an Androids tin. This is a fairly full featured, multiband transceiver with dual VFOs and a keyer. Band change is accomplished by plug-in coils. Derek also has a “Cubic Incher” transmitter that was featured in QST some years ago. Also a transceiver that was designed by the Knight-Lite’s group that meets in Greensboro.

Don Edwards, WS4NS, presented an estate item of unknown origin - but it really deserved a wider audience. This was found in the barn behind Don Donadio’s house when the estate was cleaned up. This is a home-brew CB, yes CB, rig complete with Skull and Crossbones. It represents a major amount of work on someone’s part. It is a 1960s tube design with VFO receive. Yes, it has now been powered up and it tries to work. There is no schematic but it appears to be a fairly straightforwrd tube design. It does try to receive, the front end (too much gain!) is working, and the VFO, mixer and the audio circuits do work, but right now there is no functioning IF. One of the most amazing things is the HV rectifier tube that is taped up with masking tape under the chassis.

Pictures are on the next page. Going to continue to play with this over the next few weeks to see if it can



be made to work. It does not transmit at the moment . Type-acceptance? What type acceptance?


Minutes of the Forsyth Amateur Radio Club Meeting – 14 January 2019

By Stacey MacArthur, W1LLO Secretary, Forsyth Amateur Radio Club

1. Call to Order and Welcome: The 14 January 2019 meeting of the Forsyth Amateur Radio Club at the Red Cross Building, 690 Coliseum Drive, was called to order by President Sam Poindexter, NI4TG, at 1933 hours. Sam welcomed all attendees, approximately 31, for coming out this evening, and invited each to give their name and callsign.

2. Announcements: Once again the new officers were announced for those who were absent from the December holiday party. Sam Poindexter NI4TG (President), Douglas MacArthur W4STH (Vice President), Kent Englebert K4HKE (Treasurer), and Stacey MacArthur W1LLO (Secretary). Thank you to the outgoing officers for their past service. A reminder that yearly dues are due this month, to please see Kent for payment. If any personal information has changed over the past year, please fill out a form so your information may be updated. Anyone in need of a callsign badge, please see Kent. Thoughts and prayers were asked for Terry Brown who is battling with a health issue.

3. Business Meeting: Sam, NI4TG, reminded everyone about our upcoming business meeting next Monday at Sixty-Six Pizzeria on Frontis Plaza Street, right near the new Academy Sports. The meeting starts at 7:30; we get there between 6:00 and 7:30 to eat and hang around until 9 or so.

4. Hamfest: This Januarys hamfest was a great success. We had ticket sales of $780 which is roughly 150 tickets. Tables sales of $100, and food donations of $50 with a total income of $930. We give $150 donation to the church for the use of the space as well as food expenses of $27.30. This gives us a total take away of $752.70. 156 people also paid their dues at the ham fest, as well as a $40 donation which came from an antenna sale.

5. Treasurer's Report: Kent Englebert, K4HKE, gave a brief treasurer's report. Our balance in the bank is $4,992.32. The only major expenditure anticipated at this point it the repeater repair which will most likely be south of $2000, so we're in pretty

good shape. Dues payed at Monday's meeting was roughly $300.

6. Repeater Update: Dale Mierisch, WB9SZL. 145.470 still has work that needs to be done. The repeater team will arrange a time to go up on the mountain before the next meeting to swap out antennas and apply some filtering. The new System Fusion II repeaters are both in, working great, and are ready to be installed on Baptist. Because of the new repeaters allow both analog and digital on the same frequency, using CTCSS receive tone decode is an option to mute the digital buzz.

7. AUXCOMM Report: Harlan Cobert, W1HRC, with an explanation of what RACES is and why in the state of North Carolina we are now AUXCOMM (auxiliary communications). ARRL is going to start requiring ICS courses to participate in ARES. Training is always available on the FEMA website. Reminder of the EOC net controller training next month on the 16th of February at the Red Cross Building, 690 Coliseum Drive, beginning at 8am and going until 4:30pm. Late spring in Charlotte, NC (exact time and date to come) is the yearly Auxcomm course. Wednesday Thursday Friday. All day. S i g n u p o n N C T E R M S (https://terms.ncem.org/TRS/). Finally, Harlan gauged the interest of Search and Rescue communications training.

Upcoming public service event. April 6th Hanging Rock state park. Need 6-8 people to run communications for a hiking event. Not an easy hike, relatively strenuous, 5 miles in and out. Please see Harlan for more details.

8. Program: This month's program was show and tell. Folks were to bring in a homebrew project, or something they felt was interesting to show the group. Jim Mansfield, WA4NOT, a Cricket Kit QRP 80m CW transceiver. Bruce Thomson, AD4ET, a PVC portable ham radio station he crafted out of PVC pipe to house radio equipment. Gaff Pearce, W4GYP, his System Fusion hot spot Raspberry Pie Kit. Don Edwards, WS4NC, a 1960s/70s homebrew CB tube transceiver. Jerry Minor, K4GW, a modified Amazon Fire stick as well as various homebrew and kits (including a funny story and a garage door opener). Derek Brown, WF4I, multiband Altoid tin radios.




9. Adjournment of Meeting: A motion was made and seconded. Meeting was adjourned.

10. Partial List of Meeting Attendees: Below is a partial list of FARC meeting attendees.

Stacey MacArthur W1LLO, Doug MacArthur W4STH, Harlan Cobert W1HRC, Jim Register KV4SJ, Mary McClellan KM4WPO, Sam Poindexter NI4TG, Harold Richardson N4HER, Gaff Pearce W4GYP, Bruce Thompson AD4ET, Marcia Thompson NC4MT, David Ramsey W4OIL, Ed Walbroehl KE4ZFT, Steven Mierisch KG4JWU, Pedro Tomas KN4GKY, Don Edwards WS4NC, Derek Brown WF4I, Terry Good W3NPS, David Shoaf KC4X, Bobby Meier AA9AU, Dale Mierisch WB9SZL, Steve Patterson WA3RTC, Michael Pope K4OLD, Daryl Night N5WK, Neal Pruitt WD4LSS, Van Key KC4WSK, Gary Miller WA4VMC, Jim Mansfield WA4NOT, Jim Biclski KJ4FIN, Ron Gregoire W4UDB, Steve Weifenbach KN4LKP, Doc Holiday WB4QIZ, Jerry Minor K4GW, Kent Englebert K4HKE, Ron Adkins KM4WPN.

February, 2019

Upcoming Programs

Thanks to Geoff, KK4MOV, our outgoing Vice-President for setting up some of the best programs we have had in recent memory. Our new Incoming Vice-President, Ian MacAuthur,W4STH, will be setting some great programs as well.

The January meeting was our annual Show-&-Tell Homebrew night. So many great project!

February’s program will be “FCC Radio Inteliligence Division of WWII” by Brian Harrison of Charlotte.

Upcoming in March will be SkyWarn training. This is always a highly attended program with lots of guests. Be sure to arrive early to get a good seat.

The main FARC meeting night is always the Second Monday night at the Red Cross Building on Coliseum Drive with the meeting starting at 7:30 PM (7:29:56.5 PM this month!). FCC testing is usually available, please preregister at info <at> w4nc <dot> com. Examinees should plan on arriving at 6:15 PM.

The FARC Meeting is on the of Business Third Mondaythe month at 66 Pizza on Stratford Rd just west of Hanes Mall Blvd. The meeting starts around 7:30 pm. (We usually arrive a little earlier and order dinner.) All are welcome.

Happy Birthday Chuck, W3OHVby Wayne Ashworth, W4HG

January 27 was the 99th Birthday dinner for Chuck Scheid W3OHV. It was done in the banquet room at Trinity Oaks retirement community in Salisbury where he has lived for 10 years.

It was a wonderful event with his family and me. Chuck is sharp as a tack, very observant, conversational, no wrinkles, no dementia. I had a great time; plenty of wine, a great filet mignon and good conversation. Chuck was licensed right after WWII and was an Army Air Corps pilot during the war; first as an instructor and then in New Guinea. Thanks for the opportunity to honor this hero. His daughter videoed presentation.

In honor of the occasion, Chuck was made an Honorary Life Member of Chapter 126 of the Quarter Century Wireless Club. Congratulations Chuck!

Minutes 14 January continued from

Minutes of the Forsyth Amateur Radio Club Businness Meeting - 21 Jan 2019

By Stacey MacArthur, W1LLOSecretary, Forsyth Amateur Radio Club

FARC Newsletter

1. Call to Order and Welcome: The monthly B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s B u s i n e s s M e e t i n g , Forsyth Amateur Radio C l u b , w a s h e l d o n Monday, 21 July 2019 at Sixty Six Pizzeria, 3440 Fron t is S t , W ins ton Salem. The meeting was called to order by FARC

Page 13February, 2019

President Sam Poindexter, NI4TG, at 1930 hours, welcoming all meeting attendees.

2. Meeting Attendees: The 21 meeting attendees were Jerry Minor K4GW, Don Edwards WS4NC, Ian MacArthur W4STH, Stacey MacArthur W1LLO, Jim Register KV4SJ, Sam Poindexter NI4TG, John Kippe K1PPE, Bobby Meier AA9AU, Harold Richardson N4HER, Michael Pope K4OLD, Kent Englebert K4HKE, Harlan Cobert W1HRC, Van Key KC4WSK, Ron Gregoire W4UDB, Stephen Patterson WA3RTC, Steven Mierisch KG4JWU, Dale Mierisch WB9SZL, Geoffrey Rudy KK4MOV, Henry Heidtmann W2DZO, Jeffrey Stafford AC4YN, and Steven Weifenbach KN4LKP.

3. Meeting Room at Sixty Six Pizzeria: The restaurant is implementing a new reservation system next month. We have the room for the monthly business meeting up until June. When the new system is in place, we will be able to reserve the room for the remainder of the year.

4. Field Day: Hobby Park has been reserved for field day, but not yet paid. Kent Englebert K4HKE will contact.

5. Repeater Report: Plans are being made to install the new fusion repeater on top of Baptist

Hospital, as well as an antenna changeover at Sauratown and Wi-Fi.

6. AuxComm: Harlan Cobert W1HRC once again reminded everyone of the upcoming hiking even coming up in April and asked for any volunteers. Communications exercises alongside local authorities are being discussed for the coming months.

7. Mid-Year Hamfest: It was discussed, motioned, and carried to move the mid-year hamfest from June to October on a temporary basis to comply with reports of conflicting schedules in June (i.e. Graduations, vacations, etc.) to possibly increase foot traffic. Also discussed was the option of selling food and/or drink to increase revenue.

8. Adjournment of Meeting: Motion to adjourn the meeting was made, seconded and meeting was adjourned at 2014 hours.

Best Little Hamfest in North Carolina!

Our winter hamfest is like a box of chocolates (wait did somebody use that line before?). We never know what the weather will be, it has been in the low teens. But not this year. This year was a beautiful day. The weather was very nice for a January day. The attendance was really great! And if you wanted it - it was probably there. From old and rare to newer radios.

One thing that really pulled on me was a Swan 350 in beautiful shape. Yes, I know, it’s old. And you could run a LA highway through the IF - which is a killer for me since I want CW. And it’s not the best CW rig. But it was in very nice shape and the right price. So I’ll open with a picture of this radio. But there was a lot of other gear here. A lot of the newer radios walked off before I could get a picture, but I saw them. And of course it is always good to see friends, both old and new. SEE WHERE’S WALDO ON PAGE 3!

If we keep growing like this - we may have to look for a larger location, even though that would be a high class problem to have. We really wish to thank our hosts, the Robinhood Road Baptist Church, which has such a good location.







From the office of your past president:

By David Shoaf, KC4X

2017 and 2018 were challenging years with a lot of different problems identified and solved.

2017 saw us have a very successful Field Day. There was plenty of help o n F r i d a y i ns t a l l i n g antennas and running cables, and Saturday was the same wi th great f e l l o w s h i p a n d cooperation. We did have


one slight “uh-oh” as Dave McDonald attempted to drive a ground rod into some pretty hard ground resulting in a nasty cut and a trip to the emergency room.

Solar conditions smiled upon us, and we made a ton of contacts on Saturday. As per the script, the afternoon provided another of North Carolina's rowdy thunderstorms with abundant rain and wind. No damage was done, and no one got wet. We'll take it!

The sultry summer evening gave us a rewarding, delicious evening meal. Great food, great people; it was just really fun.

Contacts continued to be made on into the night, and Sunday was profitable as well. We ended up taking the honors for our class, and the clean up was swift and smooth.

The fall of 2017 brought us the biggest challenge our club has seen in many years. In a phone call from WXII to Dale, we were informed of construction plans and were firmly instructed to remove our repeater from the top of the mountain and locate elsewhere. Your officers put their heads together and formed the Forsyth Amateur Radio Club Technical Society (FARTS) to address the problem. We researched our options carefully and were blessed by one of our members, Jerry Minor, K4GW, with the opportunity to move the repeater to a tower he owns in Midway, just south of Winston-Salem. However, our first order of business was to completely remove our equipment

from the WXII site which we did and transported it to Midway on a decent day in December. We put up a spare antenna, and at least, the repeater was back on the air, but signals were obviously not what they needed to be.

In 2018 through his business contacts, Jerry learned of an opportunity to move back to the mountain which we quickly took. This location also has its challenges, but we continue to solve the problems as they come along. Looks like we can reside here for a long time in a really nice facility. The work continues.

As president, one of my duties is to present the “Ham of the Year” award at our December banquet. In 2017, Harlan Cobert was appointed as our ARES (now ARES/AUXCOM) coordinator. In that work, Harlan has secured us a spot in the county's emergency operations center (EOS). We have had antennas installed (which need some work), and progress continues on our participation in this facility. Because of his work on the club's behalf, Harlan was awarded “Ham of the Year” in 2017. Great job Harlan. And the work continues.

In 2018, because of their dedication to solving the numerous problems surrounding the moving of our 47 Saura Town Mountain repeater and upgrade work done on our 70cm and 2 meter repeaters located in the penthouse of Baptist Hospital, three members of FARTS were awarded “Hams of the Year.” Dale Mierisch, Jim Register, and Harold Richardson have been true soldiers for the cause, braving heat, cold, rain, and lightning to bring our equipment to peak performance. There is even more to be done, and the work continues.

The 2018 Field Day was less successful than in 2017. We exerted a great effort, but the heat and humidity scared many of the participants away, so we just didn't have as big a turnout as we wanted. Nonetheless, we came, we worked, we ate, we fellowshipped, we packed up, we all left safely, and that is a lot to be thankful for!

I now turn the reins of leadership over to Sam Poindexter, NI4TG, and look forward to serving him as well as all members.

It has been great fun and rewarding for me to be the president of the radio club, and I thank all of you for helping me grow and learn in this great organization.

Forsyth County ARES

by Harlan Cobert, W1HRC

Support the Thursday night ARES/AuxComm training net:

The Forsyth County ARES/AuxComm Training Net meets each Thursday evening at 8:30 PM local time.

The Net is conducted on the W4NC 145.470 + (T100) repeater and is used for Emcomm training, practice and training in emergency / disaster response and public service communications. All amateurs are invited and encouraged to participate in this net. Our backup repeaters are the K4GW 147.315 + (T100) repeater and the W4NC 146.640 + (T100). All repeaters cover the Forsyth County Area.

AuxComm/ARES INFORMATION AND TRAINING

For AuxComm/ARES training information, please click on the AuxComm/ARES Training button in red l e t t e r i ng t o y o u r l e f t o r C l i c k H ERE f o r AuxComm/ARES Training Information WHAT IS AuxComm/ARES ??? ARES is the function of the Amateur Radio Relay League Field Organization which coordinates ham radio response as communicators in disaster situation and public service events. Local ARES units are formed at the county level and are led by an appointed volunteer Emergency Coordinator (EC).

AUXCOMM is a DHS Emergency Support Function (ESF-2) that covers all supplemental communications support for emergency and disaster situations. As DHS and most states have done, the State of North Carolina has designated AuxComm as the RACES equivalent within the state and placed Amateur Radio primary within that designation. AuxComm includes ARES, CERT communications, REACT, etc. within ESF-2 Communications.

Within the State of North Carolina and Forsyth County NC, amateur radio has been tasked with managing supplemental communications operations (ESF-2) from the EOC and/or Incident Command Posts as requested. As such Forsyth County ARES has been re-designated Forsyth County AuxComm/ARES.



February, 2019

Additionally, Forsyth County AuxComm/ARES provide communications support for local cities and towns within the county as well as surrounding counties where no formal A u x C o m m o r A R E S organization is established. Through State-Wide Mutual Aid Agreements, Forsyth County AuxComm/ARES when requested by either the State of NC or Forsyth County Emergency Management could be deployed to surrounding counties during an emergency or disaster.

An Amateur Radio Station License is required for ARES membership. Amateur radio operators should register via Form 98 which will provide the EC with your contact information and band/mode capabilities. The form is available on the back of the FARC News Letter, below, or in person from the EC. There are no fees for membership and members do not have to be a member of the Forsyth Amateur Radio Club.

Forsyth County AuxComm/ARES Team members volunteer their time and equipment to perform communications and other support as needed during times of emergency/disaster or public service event within the county and surrounding jurisdictions. Most of our operations use VHF/UHF FM, so any class of licensee can participate.

The Forsyth County AuxComm/ARES Team is sponsored and supported by the Forsyth Amateur Radio Club which provides financial and equipment support for AuxComm/ARES operations.

Forsyth County AuxComm/ARES primary served partners are the Winston Salem / Forsyth County Emergency Management Agency and the American R e d C r o s s . W e p r o v i d e s u p p l e m e n t a l communications under ESF-2 and MOU’s to these partners.

Our primary Public Service event is the annual two-day Bike MS Tour to Tanglewood event. During this charity event, we provide communications support throughout the route at rest stations as well as providing radio equipped Support & Gear vehicles (SAGS). This event gathers over 900 riders annually and covers 3 counties. In 2018 the event raised over $850,000 for MS research.

For more information or to join Forsyth County AuxComm/ARES check into the Thursday evening AuxComm/ARES Net or contact the Emergency


Coordinator at the FARC meetings. A fill-in form to join AuxComm/ARES can be downloaded below:

For forms and more information go to www.w4nc.comand check the AuxComm/ARES link on the left of the page. NOTE: AuxComm/ARES members do not self-deploy.

SERVED PARTNERSW I N S T O N S A L E M / F O R S Y T H C O U N T Y EMERGENCY MANAGEMENTAMERICAN RED CROSSMS SOCIETY

UPDATED SCHEDULE OF WebEOC TRAINING COURSES:

WebEOC

This training course is required for those personnel who will perform Communications Lead duties at the EOC only. Trained personnel MUST be available for deployment to the EOC and surrounding areas should the nead arise. Typical disaster shifts in the EOC are 12 hours. If you cannot do this type of shift, please do not seek this training as we are limited to the total number of persons that can access this system.

Personnel must be approved for the course by the A R E S / A u x C o m m E C a n d E m e r g e n c y Management. Those desiring the course should make their request initially to the ARES/AuxComm EC who will advise Emergency Management that you are approved for the course.

Training Dates are: Thursday, February 7, 2019 for Introduction to WebEOC in Forsyth County (FOR-WEBEOC-01) Course Location: Kernersville FD, Station 42, 1180 Hwy 66 South, Kernersville, NC

Tuesday, April 9, 2019 for Introduction to WebEOC in Forsyth County (FOR-WEBEOC-01) Course Location: Forsyth County Public Safety Center, EOC-Forsyth County, 301 N Church St, Winston-Salem, NC

NOTES:(1) A laptop is required to take this course (2) Registration is required for taking this course at https://terms.ncem.org/TRS


February, 2019

If you have questions on this t ra in ing, please contact Harlan via radio or email at ares <at> w4nc <dot> com

NEW FEMA COURSE, IS-

1160, DAMAGE ASSESSMENT OPERATIONS TRAINING

FEMA has introduced a new on-line course ion the FEMA Emergency Management Institute for Damage Assessment. This course is recommended for all Forsyth County ARES/AuxComm Members as we may be tasked with such operations following a disaster. To be part of the Damage Assessment Team (DAT) you must have completed formal DAT training. This course is 8-hours long and fulfills the formal training requirement. To take the training you must be registered with the FEMA Emergency Management Institute and have been issued a Student ID number. The course can be accessed at:

https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-1160

Future Training Being Planned:First Aid and CPR/AED

ARES/AuxComm Documentation:

Some important downloads for ARES/AuxComm are available and can be downloaded by going to www.w4nc.cm and clicking the ARES link.

WHAT IS ARES/AuxComm???

ARES/AuxComm is the function of the Amateur Radio Relay League Field Organization which c o o r d i n a t e s h a m r a d i o r e s p o n s e s a s communicators in disaster situations and public service events. Local ARES/AuxComm units are formed at the county level led by an appointed volunteer Emergency Coordinator. A ham radio l i cense i s requ i r ed fo r ARES/AuxComm membership, as is a registration form listing contact information and band / mode capabilities. This form is available from the Emergency Coordinator. There are no fees or dues; nor is club membership required.

All hams may participate by volunteering their time and the use of their radio equipment for ARES/AuxComm activities. Currently almost all of our local activities use VHF / UHF FM; so hams with any class of license can participate.

Locally, ARES/AuxComm is sponsored by the Forsyth Amateur Radio Club which allows the use of the club’s repeaters and some of the club’s equipment for ARES/AuxComm needs.

Our primary disaster service partners are the American Red Cross and Forsyth Emergency Management. We participate in training exercises with them, and in communications emergencies can be activated to serve in their responses. The most l i k e l y a c t i v a t i o n i s t o p r o v i d e b a c k u p communications in Red Cross shelters when they are opened.

The major public service event for Forsyth County ARES/AuxComm is the annual, two-day Tour to Tanglewood Bike MS event. Hams are stationed at rest areas and in event vehicles to provide point-to-point communications.

For more information or to join ARES/AuxComm, check into one of the ARES/AuxComm nets or contact the Emergency Coordinator at a FARC club meeting. A fill-in form to join ARES/AuxComm can be downloaded at www.w4nc.com.

February, 2019 FARC Newsletter Page 23

Diddle-De-Dah-De-DonThat’s All Folks . . .

Hope you enjoyed this month’s Newsletter.

Long Newsletter this month. But then there has been a lot going on. It is a pleasure to work with a great group of hams a n d y o u s h o u l d h a v e considerable pride in this Club with all that gets accomplished.

It is good to see Stacey’s first minutes this month. Jim Register set a high bar for excellance as the secretary for the past two years, yet I have no doubt that Stacey will take that and do well.

Thanks to James AE7AX for his great article on the 40 Meter CW transmitter this month. Even though he has moved to Wymoning he still follows FARC and particaptes as he can in our annual Home-Brew.

Speaking of Home-Brew - last month’s meeting showed that there are a lot of people still builidng goodies. Some people claim it is harder today - that just can’t be true. Parts are easier to get than ever and cheap. And there are lots of kits.

Hope to see everyone at the Monday Club meetings. February will be another great progem by Brian Harrison form Charlotte. Don’t miss it.

Now I just have to leave with another shot of the Swan 350 that was at the January Hamfest. If it was only a better CW rig it would have gone home with me. Sigh . . .

73, Don WS4NC

W4NC Web Page

The W4NC web page continues to be updated and now has the video link for the last FARC meeting on it. Terry, AK4D, continues to put a lot of effort in this and makes it a beautiful, and very useful, webpage. Please go check it out: www.w4nc.com

Page 24

More onW4NC Live

Prior to February we have tried to use a free streaming service to put FARC programs on line. The old system left something to be desired. It was an ad-based service and at critical times, whether you wanted it or not, you would get one of those screaming ads. By the time the ad was over, the one part you really, really wanted to hear was past. The resolution was poor and the ads were intrusive - but it was free.

We are in the transition to youtube. Pedro, KM4GKY, has become our “youtuber” expert. While there is a youtube streaming service, the February streaming attempt was a bit futile. We have experienced some issues with the software that would sometimes lock up durring the program. Hoefully we got it fixed - but we don’t know what we did - so maybe, maybe not. The videos since February are available on w4nc.com right now.

FARC Newsletter

Amazon Smile Program

Do you buy stuff from Amazon? If you do there is a way for FARC to earn a little money here. Go to the Amazon Smile link below and register and select Forsyth Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchases to FARC. It costs you nothing more, but it benefits the club. Anything you order has to be ordered from the Amazon Smile link – if, after you register, you forget to order through the smile program it will usually remind you. Again it costs you nothing more. Amazon is supporting legal 501c(3) organizations through this program. As of May, 2018 this has generated $383.78 for FARC. Thanks Amazon and thanks to Raja, KB6MTH for pointing this out. www.smile.amazon.com

February, 2019



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